Mitchelstown man Diarmuid Dennehy will be on a team of three taking on the English Channel in a relay swim next week, in a bid to raise funds for Pieta House.

A native of Cloughleafin, but a Kildorrery man at heart through his involvement with the GAA, Diarmuid, who is now living in London will be taking on the challenge with Liam Kelleher from Mallow and Stuart Bowman of the Serpentine Swimming Club in Hyde Park.

Tides and weather allowing, they plan to do the swim between September 18 and 24 and the swimming distance is 21 nautical miles in total. The men will swim for two hours at a time in sequence, guided by a pilot boat all the way to France.

Diarmuid and Liam have been training with Stuart, doing at least six hours of swimming a week in preparation, while also focussing on keeping themselves well fuelled and on this note, Diarmuid added that pasta, cheese and biscuits have found a special place in his diet.

Stuart is a seasoned open water swimmer who previously swam the Channel in a six-man relay, as well as completing several Ironman competitions and he did the 26.4km Lake Zurich swim in July.

Liam works in London as an engineer and is a recent convert to swimming through his membership in the Serpentine Club, while Diarmuid has been swimming since he was nine, training and competing for many years with Fermoy SC and is now working in accountancy in London.

Now that time is closing in on the swim date, Diarmuid told The Avondhu that he is feeling neither nervous or excited and was quite blase and modest in saying that it's merely 'another day out'.

When asked about future swim plans, Diarmuid said that he plans to just keep on going with a sport that he loves.

"Simply to keep one arm going in front of the other. It's a pretty simple sport really, regardless of the goal, it's the same formula," he said.

The three have been training throughout the Winter, while they have also had some invaluable tips and help from Fermoy swimmer and Channel record holder Owen O'Keeffe, who helped them to devise training schedules, as well as mentoring their progress.

As they do the swim, there are no wetsuits allowed, so the cold will be a big issue and they have been getting their bodies acclimatised gradually.

With the rate of suicide and self harm being so high amongst young Irish people over the past number of years, the swimmers have also decided to try to raise some funds for Pieta House and they would really appreciate if people could support the good cause.

A page has been set up online on idonate.ie/fromdoverwithlove and donations can also be made through the Dennehy family in Mitchelstown.

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